2013 CU2 Smelly Air Conditioning

[Hunter986]

Hey Guys,

As the title goes, I'm having issues with my A/C spitting out a subtle smell, the scent is starting to get stronger the more I use my A/C, when I turn the A/C off the smell goes away.

I've only had the car since the 1st of September and have only noticed the smell in the last couple of weeks.

The car only has 20K KMs so I'm not sure what could have gone wrong to cause this smell.

Is there an air con filter or something like that which can be cleaned to fix this, its really affecting the quality of driving as every journey is either hot or stinky.

Thanks in advance guys!

[Martin77]

There should be a cabin filter in the glove box which you could inspect and change. When you change it, try to get carbon impregnated ones to help with the odour.
With the filter out, one other thing you could do (fan on medium to high) is to spray the a/c intake duct (maybe under the seat) with disinfectant like Glen 20. If you can't find the intake duct, spray the cabin (windows closed) and let the air circulate for 5 minutes. Hopefully this will kill the germs that caused the bad odour. You can then change the fan setting (fresh air, not circulate) and spray Glen 20 on the grill outside near the windscreen wipers.

[Hunter986]

There should be a cabin filter in the glove box which you could inspect and change. When you change it, try to get carbon impregnated ones to help with the odour.
With the filter out, one other thing you could do (fan on medium to high) is to spray the a/c intake duct (maybe under the seat) with disinfectant like Glen 20. If you can't find the intake duct, spray the cabin (windows closed) and let the air circulate for 5 minutes. Hopefully this will kill the germs that caused the bad odour. You can then change the fan setting (fresh air, not circulate) and spray Glen 20 on the grill outside near the windscreen wipers.

In the mean time would it be a bad idea to wash this filter, maybe spraying the filter or even just vacuum it?

Thanks again man :D

[Martin77]

Please have a look at the filter. It may not be terrible at 20k km.
You could try the Glen 20 spray with the old filter in place but don't wash it.

[Martin77]

How did you go with this?
Are there things you did differently that we could learn from?

[tony1234]

You need something like this.
https://clickableautomotive.com.au/autoglym-air-con-cleaner.html?utm_source=google_shopping&gclid=CJu0qLLJ8M8CFdOTvQodcS4AHw
I used this exact brand.Worked a treat.Get it from Repco